AP Thai police fired tear gas and water cannons Friday to push back hundreds of protesters trying to force their way into a government compound, the latest indication that ousting the premier will not solve Thailand's tense political crisis.

reuters Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, speaking to supporters in a city park, urged them to rally outside parliament, the prime minister's offices and five television stations to prevent them being used by the government. ''We will sweep the debris of the Thaksin regime out of the country,'' Suthep said.

Bangkok Update The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is closely monitoring the situation, and would like to inform tourists and the tourism industry that all concerned public and private agencies will exercise utmost efforts to ensure tourist's convenience. All public transport and tourist attractions, including airports, tourist sites and shopping malls, are currently open and operating as per normal.

bangkokpost.com The PDRC warns it will invade government offices and lay siege to unfriendly TV stations Friday as it seeks again to clog up central streets in Bangkok for a multi-day ''final battle,'' with the red shirts on the way on Saturday.


PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Beware of inconsistent imitations.



bangkokpost.com Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) is soliciting interest from the private sector to take part in developing what it calls Phuket International Airport City on over 24,000 square metres now in use as an outdoor car park. Airport City will have five or six storeys from the ground level, with levels in the basement dedicated for the parking of up to 1200 cars.

Airport City envisioned for Phuket
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/aviation/408800/airport-city-envisioned-for-phuket/

ft.com Thailand's ousted premier faces the threat of a long ban from politics after another legal ruling against her that will stoke fresh political tensions and deepen criticism over alleged bias in the country's judicial institutions.

economist.com For all the pretence of due legal process and distaste at Ms Yingluck's nepotism, this was not an offence that merited the ousting of a prime minister. Instead, the ruling is a measure of quite how far Thailand has fallen, how deeply it is divided and how badly its institutions are broken.

bangkokpost.com Now, the ball is in the court of Thaksin. Then there are the 15 million Pheu Thai voters to consider, and the UDD to reckon with.

bangkokpost.com Thaksin said the Constitutional Court ruling was unlawful, especially when it ordered the ministers to also step down, a decision he viewed as ''not fair'' to them because the court did not give them a chance to defend themselves.

nytimes.com The National Anti-Corruption Commission, which brought the latest proceedings, did not clarify how Ms Yingluck could be impeached from an office that she no longer holds.

nationmultimedia.com Thailand is moving closer to economic recession because of the ongoing political uncertainty, while the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) in April hit the lowest point in 12 and a half years, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said.

reuters Thailand's auto sector, Southeast Asia's biggest, has fired more than 30,000 subcontracted workers this year and slashed production, as sales plunge after months of political unrest that threatens to drive some manufacturers offshore.

news.com.au Burma has deported an Australian journalist working for the news website Democratic Voice of Burma after he reported on a demonstration calling for press freedom. Angus Watson, 24, flew out of Yangon to Thailand late on Thursday after authorities accused him of breaching the terms of his business visa by taking part in Wednesday's rally, the DVB said.

AP The US House of Representatives has called on Burma (Myanmar) to end persecution of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities, in the stiffest congressional criticism yet of the nation's reformist government. Asean meets in Burma this weekend.



economist.com The saga has emphasised how much Malaysia matters in the geopolitics of the region: the two Pacific superpowers, America and China, have both come to play big roles in the search for the missing plane, if in very different ways.



bangkokpost.com Southern Thais are the ''legs'' of the anti-government protest movement. They are the people who have slept on the street, and bathed in the khlongs. The southern Thais are the ''fly in the ointment'' for the many academics and journalists who see the current political struggle as an urban-rural class divide. Without the southerners, this overrated litany would be much easier to package and pass on.

The angry southerners visit Bangkok
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/408846/the-angry-southerners-visit-bangkok/

bangkokpost.com The bomb blasts in Hat Yai on Tuesday have hit tourism with hotels in the busy commercial district losing about 30 percent of its bookings through cancellations. Package tours shifted their destinations to the Andaman coastal provinces such as Krabi and Phuket instead.

internationalliving.com At age 56, former British army officer and executive Nick Fawcus-Robinson lives on the exotic island of Phuket, and runs his own dive company, ScubaNicks: ''I wanted people to remember the experience of diving in Phuket but I also wanted them to remember me, and to come back to me if they enjoyed it.''

nnt The Department of Land Transport is reminding tour bus passengers to fasten their seat belts when seated, with the enforcement date of a penalty looming near. The regulation will take effect on May 11, and violators are subject to fines of up to 5000 baht.

bangkokpost.com A British man has been found dead on the southern railway tracks in Prachuap Khiri Khan, police said. Matthew Lawlow, 20, is believed to have fallen to his death while smoking in the area between two carriages.

bangkokpost.com Mu Koh Chang National Park will charge entrance fees to visitors who snorkel or scuba dive around Koh Rang, in Trat, beginning in June. T ickets for foreigners are 200 baht for an adult and 100 baht for a child aged three to 14. Thais will be charged 40 baht for an adult and 20 baht for a child.



bangkokpost.com According to official statistics, 15,495 children have lost their lives in Thailand in swimming accidents in the past 12 years (from 2002 to 2013), averaging 1291 per year.

wsj.com Thailand's rice exports are recovering after the government ended its controversial stockpiling policy. The country is poised to be the world's second-biggest rice exporter this year, the Food and Agriculture Agency predicted.

bbc.com Scotland Yard is beginning what it says is the world's biggest ever pilot program into the use of portable cameras worn by police. A trial of the cameras will see 500 distributed to officers across 10 London boroughs.

reuters Thomas and Raymond Kwok, the billionaire co-chairmen of Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, Asia's largest developer, went on trial in Hong Kong's biggest corruption case since the city's anti-graft agency was formed nearly 40 years ago.

wsj.com Two years ago, when car demand was strong, workers at a 3.5-million-square-foot automobile factory southeast of Bangkok could install four tires on a Ford Fiesta in two minutes. Now, the assembly line runs much more slowly and the job takes twice as long.

heraldsun.com.au Koh Kred, close to the Nothaburi section of Bangkok's suburban sprawl, is a popular day-trip destination for Thais. But it's also increasingly being discovered by foreigners. I'd been talking about how difficult it was to decide between Bangkok or a holiday on one of the cluster of resort isles, of which Phuket is best-known.

travelmole.com Rosewood Hotels and Resorts is pushing ahead with expansion in Asia. In the pipeline are Rosewood Phuket (2015); Rosewood Phnom Penh (2015); Rosewood Tanah Lot Bali and Rosewood Jakarta (2017); Rosewood Bangkok (2017) and Rosewood Sanya, China (2017).



sg.sports.yahoo.com Leicester City marked their return to the top flight of English football and their Championship triumph with a trip to Thailand. As part of their 6-day trip, they will be in Phuket from May 9 to 12.

afp A worker died at a World Cup stadium in Brazil after he was electrocuted, an official source told AFP, the eighth fatality during chaotic preparations for the footballing showpiece.



May 9 Bangkok street protesters' ''final battle''

May 13 Visakha Bucha Day

July 11 Arsanha Bucha Day

August 12 Queen's Birthday

September 24-October 2 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket

October 23 Chulalongkorn Memorial Day

November 6 Loy Kratong

November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket

December 5 King's Birthday

December 10 Constitution Day

December 25 Christmas Day

December 26 10th Anniversary, 2004 Tsunami

December 31 New Year's Eve